The digital age has revolutionised the way information has been accessible and shareable and it has been observed that society as a whole is progressing towards labelling persons/ writers/ content. This has led to lack of tolerance and eroded the understanding of ours. The article discusses the issue in detail.

Directive word

Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.

Key demand of the question.

The question wants us to write in detail as to how labelling undermines understanding and why the phenomenon of labelling is related to the advent of science and technology and what should be done in this regard.

Structure of the answer

Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the reading. E.g Reading is matter of fact and habitual; yet it has many hidden dimensions to it. Reading is more than seeing words. It is about making sense of words, about discovering and constructing meaning. The meaning of the words we read are not gathered from dictionaries alone. They are also created from our memories and experiences. The meaning of every sentence is dependent on the context in which it is used.

Body-

Discuss how the digital age has reduced reading to labelling and what are its consequences. E.g A troubling practice that has crept into our contemporary reading practices is the act of labelling instead of ‘reading’. When we read we discover and/or create meaning of what we read. One easy way of discovering meaning is not to struggle through reading but through the act of labelling. Labelling is a way of saying that the article is about something without even reading it. It is remarkable how so much of our reading gets judged by the act of labelling; Labelling is the new illiteracy of our times. Labelling is an obstacle to really understanding what is being said and how it is being said. It is also a lazy and unethical way of reading; The motivation for labelling is not to learn and understand but to attack without justification; It is a symptom of how a literate people can become dangerously illiterate when labelling replaces understanding; It is the spread of labelling as a form of social reading that has also contributed to the spread of hate in our society.

Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.

Topic – Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

Virginity testing is practiced in many countries of the world and is used in determining cases of rape as well. In this context it is essential to understand the logic behind the abhorrent practice and see whether the recent move by UN agencies is justified or not.

Directive word

Comment- here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.

Key demand of the question.

The question wants us to form an opinion as to whether virginity testing should be banned or not. We have to form our opinion based on a proper discussion and presentation of valid arguments.

Structure of the answer

Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the virginity testing- why it is done- to confirm virginity of a prospective bride and to confirm incidence of a rape.

Body

Write in detail about the virginity testing and whether it should be banned or not. E.g virginity” is not a medical or scientific term but a social, cultural and religious construct; Women are forced to undergo virginity testing for reasons, including requests from parents or potential partners to establish marriage eligibility or from employers for employment eligibility. Victims of rape are forced to go through the tests to ascertain whether or not rape ‘occurred’; It not only violate women’s and girls’ human rights, but in cases of rape can cause additional pain and mimic the original act of sexual violence, leading to re-experience, re-traumatization and re-victimization. Many women suffer from adverse short- and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences of this practice. This includes anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. In extreme cases, women or girls may attempt suicide or be killed in the name of “honour” etc.

Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.

Topic – Part of static series under the heading – “population of India”

The question expects us to explain first the distribution pattern of population in India and thereafter, explain the reason why is it so.

Directive word

Examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any .

Structure of the answer

Introduction – Mention that India has a highly uneven pattern of population distribution largely determined by not only climate along with terrain and availability of water but also socio-economic and historical factors

Body

Due to climate, terrain and availability of water, the northern Indian plains, deltas and coastal plains have higher proportion of population in comparison to south and southern hinterland, hilly and desert areas

However, availability of irrigation in states such as Rajasthan, availability of minerals and energy resources in states such as Jharkhand and development of transport network in Peninsular India have also resulted in moderate to high concentration of population where it was thinly populated in past.

With respect to the socio-economic and historical factors, the evolution of settled agriculture and further development in agriculture; pattern of human settlements; development of transport network, industrialization and urbanization have played important role in determining the pattern of population distribution in India.

Its observed that the region falling in the river plains and coastal areas are regions of high population concentration, despite the degradation of natural resources like land and water in these regions the concentration is very high because of early history and human settlement and development of transport network. Examples for such settlements are city of Varanasi, Allahabad etc. On the other side the urban areas of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmadabad, Jaipur, Banglore, Chennai have high population due to industrial development and urbanization drawing a large number of migrants from rural areas.

The article discusses in detail the meaning and the impact of IPCC report and explains why the window for action is fast closing. In light of the alarming situation predicted by the report, it is important that we understand the full extent of the impact of anthropogenic changes to climate and take steps accordingly. This question will enable you to prepare the IPCC report in detail.

Key demand of the question

The question expects us to explain the report of IPCC, highlight why we should not allow ourselves to breach the 1.5 degree C mark, why even a 1 degree C increase in temperature would not be a steady state and cause problems. Discuss what needs to be done to deal with this situation.

Directive word

Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.

Structure of the answer

Introduction – Explain about the findings of the IPCC report – it confirmed what we have known for years but stubbornly ignored. Climate change from human-induced causes is already taking place and is both accelerating and intensifying.

The impacts at 2°C are catastrophic for the poor and for developing nations like India

Human-induced global warming has already reached 1°C; the current climate efforts of countries will take the world to 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052It is very difficult — but not impossible — to remain within 1.5°C by the end of the centuryThe US is the biggest obstacle to forming a global coalition to fight climate change. The world needs to unite against the obstructive approach of the US

Paris Agreement and UNFCCC cannot be the only way ahead to address climate change. The world needs a ‘Plan B’ to address climate change

India must take the lead in forming a global coalition for a 1.5°C world to save its poor and vulnerable population

Highlight why the situation is so dire – Even if the temperature rise could be limited to the current level, these observed climate changes would not only continue but will intensify because of strong feedback loops

Explain why even a 1 degree increase in temperature would not be a steady state and lead to catastrophic impacts. The answer lies in the dense interconnectedness of all life on Earth and the strong feedback loops which link the entire ecosystem. Global warming so far may have led to the loss of over 40-50% of the coral reefs , but the damage does not stop there. The loss of corals affects marine life as they provide habitat for fish. Their loss makes coasts more vulnerable to wave erosion because they act as wave breakers. The loss of fish populations will have an impact on food security which, in turn, affects human health. All these then have second order effects which escape reckoning.

Discuss what steps needs to be taken to deal with this situation

Conclusion – Emphasize on the necessity of quick action and discuss way forward.

General Studies – 2

Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and theperformance of these schemes

The article highlights the objective and salient features of NNM or POSHAN Abhiyan and discusses how the achievement of outcomes under the mission can be enhanced. India, according to several reports, faces the severe brunt of hunger and malnutrition which needs to be addressed. hence, understanding the objective, strategy etc of NNM would serve us well in paper 2.

Key demand of the question

The question expects us to bring out the objective and salient features of the mission which would include – implementation strategy, timelines etc . Thereafter, the question expects us to answer how the implementation of the scheme can be dovetailed with other schemes, department or sector to achieve better outcomes under the scheme.

Directive word

Examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any .

Structure of the answer

Introduction – Highlight the hunger and nutrition challenge of India by quoting India’s position on world hunger index, reports etc to establish the context in which NNM was introduced.

Body

Explain the objective of the mission – The programme through the targets will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies. It will create synergy, ensure better monitoring, issue alerts for timely action, and encourage States/UTs to perform, guide and supervise the line Ministries and States/UTs to achieve the targeted goals.

Discuss the salient features such as Triple A approach, use of ICT, mission will form an apex body that would fix targets and monitor, supervise and guide nutrition-related interventions across the ministries etc

Discuss how the outcomes under the mission can be enhanced – The Poshan Abhiyan presents an opportunity for inter-sectoral collaboration that can amplify collective actions to improve nutrition indicators and achieve the goal of “zero hunger” in the country. For this shifting the focus of agriculture sector from growing staples to fortified foods, milk, horticulture etc; Further, with the Poshan Abhiyan advocating the “Triple A” approach, that is building the capacity of ASHA, Anganwadi Worker (AWW) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) workers, there is an opportunity to leverage the agriculture extension services in the country etc

Conclusion – Highlight how important the misison is for India and discuss the way forward.

Topic – Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

The article examines the claim that HAL’s performance and technical competency to undertake defence production is sub-standard. It also makes a counter claim that there is nothing wrong in the competence or ability of HAL, it is the government’s intervention in HAL which affects it’s performance. Since HAL is one of the key defence manufacturing agencies of government and has been in the news, albeit for wrong reasons, this question becomes important.

Key demand of the question

The question expects us to describe the role that HAL plays in defence manufacturing, explain the recent controversy related to HAL. Next, we need to highlight both aspects of HAL’s performance and discuss the way forward.

Directive word

Critically examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any . When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, all you need to do is look at the good and bad o

Structure of the answer

Introduction – Explain the recent Rafale controversy and the fact that HAL was hauled for its poor performance.

Body – Here, first we have to explain the role of HAL. Thereafter, we need to discuss the issues with previous projects of HAL such as long delays, cost overruns etc. We also need to discuss why berating HAL for its performance might not be correct because of reasons such as diversion of HAL’s resources etc for extraneous purposes such as for events like Aero India etc, HAL has demonstrated its technical competence by manufacturing Sukhoi M 30 from scratch from raw material, hence its competence can not be challenges , as a recently listed company it has made several gains etc.

Conclusion – discuss the importance of shoring up India’s research and manufacturing capability when it comes to defence production and the huge role that HAL has to play in that.

General Studies – 4

Topic – Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.

Lexicon Ethics Booklet (Public/Civil Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration)

Directive word

Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.

Key demand of the question.

The question wants us to write in detail about the main approaches of International affairs, over international ethics. We have to provide a comprehensive summary of how they explain impact international relations.

Structure of the answer

Introduction- write a few introductory lines about the diversity of interests, conflicts involved in international relations and a host of factors- economic conditions; historical relations; public opinion; global business interests and common agenda like fight against climate change, terrorism etc.

Body-

Discuss in paras, various ethical approaches to international relations, under the following headings-

Realism

Idealism

Constructivism

Cosmopolitanism

Equality of Life

Try to describe each approach briefly and discuss its relevance in today’s world. Take the help of the book and other relevant study material to frame your answer.

Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.

NOTE:

We are giving hints for each question. Please use your creativity and originality to come up with answers that are unique to you. But do so without deviating from core demand of each question. Ultimately you should use your reason and judgement to write your own answer.